Anti-football

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This article is about the term's usage in association football. For the Australian rules football-related organisation, see Anti-Football League.

"Anti-football" is a term used to describe a particularly defensive or robust style of play of football (soccer).

Contents

[edit] History and usage

The phrase has been in use in English since at least 2001, where Gary Armstrong and Richard Giulianotti used the phrase to describe the tactics of Argentine team Estudiantes de La Plata in the 1968 Copa Intercontinental game against Manchester United in their book Fear and Loathing in World Football, citing usage of the phrase in a 1968 editorial in the Argentine newspaper El Gráfico.[1]

The phrase was used by Johan Cruyff in 2002 to criticise the tactics that helped Brazil to win the World Cup, stating: "Brazil deserved their win but they aren’t a team. They play anti-football and only took advantage of the mistakes of their opponents."[2]

In November 2006 Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas used the term to describe the style of play in the English Premier League, stating: "Teams just defend, defend and defend, they try to waste time. I call it 'anti-football' - but we have to accept this happens and break teams down."[3]

In 2007 the phrase was used in The Daily Telegraph to describe the Chelsea style of play under former manager Jose Mourinho[4] and on Guardian Unlimited's sports blog on Real Madrid's style of play under manager Fabio Capello.[5] Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard said Celtic played "anti-football" following a 1-1 Champions League draw between the sides on November 24, 2004. [6] Barcelona striker Lionel Messi referred to Rangers style of play as "anti-football" after Rangers held Barcelona to a 0-0 draw at Ibrox on October 23, 2007.[7] Rangers were also accused of playing anti-football by Alain Perrin after their 3-0 win over Perrin's Olympique Lyonnais a few weeks before the Barcelona match.[8]

[edit] In other languages

In the Lionel Messi case, the actual phrase used was "anti-futbol", which is a commonly occurring phrase in Spanish used to describe any extremely defensive or robust style of play. In Spain and many Latin American countries the term has been used to deride the Italian Catenaccio system.[citation needed] Rafael Benítez accused Italian team Inter Milan of playing "anti-futbol" after his Valencia team were beaten in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League in 2003.[9]

In Argentina the phrase has recently been used to describe the more physical and muscular style of play adopted by Brazil over recent years, which has seen them triumph over Argentina in two successive Copa Américas in 2004 and 2007, and in the Confederations Cup, in 2005.[citation needed].

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Gary Armstrong & Richard Giulianotti (2001). Fear and Loathing in World Football, p. 242. ISBN 978-1859734636. 
  2. ^ "Cruyff slams World Cup, accuses Brazil of wrecking football", Daily Times, 2002-07-02. 
  3. ^ David Sheppard. "Fabregas slates the 'anti-football' of Premiership rivals", Soccernet, 2006-11-10. 
  4. ^ Michael Henderson. "Roman Abramovich stealing football's soul", The Daily Telegraph, 2007-09-22. 
  5. ^ Sid Lowe. "Forget Beckham, Van Nistelrooy is the Real deal", Guardian Unlimited Sport blog, 2007-06-09. 
  6. ^ "Rijkaard criticises Celtic for 'anti-football' as Barca held", World Soccer News, 2004-11-24. 
  7. ^ Patrick Nathanson. "Barcelona's Lionel Messi hits out at Rangers", The Daily Telegraph, 2007-10-24. 
  8. ^ Ray Wilson. "Lyon Boss Attacks Rangers' Style Of Play", Daily Record, 2007-10-09. 
  9. ^ Alex Hayes. "Team ethic can lead Italians into a new era", Independent on Sunday, 2003-05-04. 
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